The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 23, 1933, Page 3

Fight for the _ dollars. - so TOY SA a ARIES ‘il _ DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1933 C. W. A. MEN FORM UNIONS; AS Meet in Washington Jan. 13 To | Jobless in Fight for Social Insurance ChicagoCWA Workers Form Union, Present Their Demands CHICAGO, Il, Dec. 22.—More than 150 men, representing from 50 to 75 C. W. A. jobs, at a meeting Wednes- day, Dec. 20th, 1933, went on record to organize a union for the following demands: 1) Immediate and regular weekly p2y days. 2)Union wages on all Jobs with a minimum of 83c an hour. 3) Time and transportation to be paid from city limits. 4) Shelter and fire to be provided on all jobs in open. 5) Full pay for time lost due to sickness and bad weather. 6) Men to be pro- tected against accident and injury as provided by Illinois Workman’s Com- ; pensation Act. A committce of 19 was elected to arrange a mass meeting at North West Hall, 2403 W. North Averue, for Tuesday, December 26th, 7.30 p. m. Sub-Com s were elected to get cut applica’ cards and draft a con- stitution. Some men have not been paid for three weeks. Two men killed and more tt Cook County alone. offered these wo man’s Compensation Act operative on these jobs. Pay varies from 50c to 83c per hour The meet liminary con: from 15 jobs of this preliminary conference, Karl Lockner of the Unemployed Councils, gave the address, meeti opening v reles Men Letter place on follow: ere employed in the after- noon it in Fern Canyon. Our sub- foreman found our work satisfactory, ‘ Hut-was told by Cummings, who fired us, that if he made a written state- ment in our defense, he would also be fired. “When Mr. Cummings was pressed for the reason as to why he had fired us, he refused to say anything, except that we are ‘agitators.’ We can-only assume that he meant by this that we are active members of the Relief Workers Protective Union. “Since President Roosevelt made it plain that there will be no discrim- ination on C.W.A. work because of. trace, color, political opinion or union affiliation, we fcel that Cummings Has acted in direct violation of the in- tention of the Civil Works Adminis- traton and the President, “Our repeated requests to be put back to work have been denied, and we wish that you would take this matter up at once, as we are urgent- ly in need of work. Yours sincerely, (Signed) HARRY RICE, SIDNEY WILLIAMS, CHRIS CATCHINGS. and associations to take part in the grave problems, the employed and who make up the army of 17 mill! problems that can be met with ‘em but arise from a nation-wide crisi provisions as now prevail, is proof national scale is imperative. “For this reason we believe th “Your delegates will, of course, the in of mass unemployment, BIRMINGHAM, Ala, Dec. 22.— Strikes and other outbursts against the C.W.A. are reported from many sections of the South. In Dayton, Tenn., a crowd of 1,000 took J. H. Miser, county superinten- dent of schools, and his wife, to the county line and ordered them not to come back. Miser had charge of ‘awarding work on school relief pro-| i | Jects fi anced by federal funds. The found that the funds were used for those who really need them, but rather the jobs were apportioned to favorite employees of wealthy plantation owners. C.W.A. Workers Give Demands Seventy-nine citizens of Woodruff County, Ark, signed a message to President Roosevelt protesting dis- crimination against needy workers in The C.W.A. offices at Ozark, in the same state, were closed by order of the relief office in Washington after a crowd had gathered at the building to protest the use of funds. Similar actions by angry, starving workers are reported from Lavaca and Van Buren, both in Afkansas. The courthouse in Selma, Ala., was the scene on Dec. 18 of 2 meeting of 350 C.W.A. workers protesting against the methods of the relief administra- tion. The workers charged that locai Doliticians are using the C.W.A. ji to build up political machines. ers are taking the pay of the C.W.A Workers in settlement of ration ac- counts. O.W.A. workers in Montgomery, Ala., are starting a movement for Unemployed Council Calls on League to Attend Jan.13 Meet NEW YORK.—The National Committee of the Unemployed Councils has issued a call to all central bodies and locals of all unemployed leagues, associations and committees, and to all relief workers unions ployment which will take place in Washington on Jan. 13, 14 and 15. “The fifth winter of the prolonged crisis confronts all workers with “It is now evident to most of us that these are no longer temporary “Tt is also evident that these problems are not of a local character, Unite | Detroit Union Formed; Mass. Meeting Is Planned ‘The Re- a | | | DETROIT, Mich., Dec. 22. {lief Workers Protective Associati a | union to unite all Civil Works Admin- | istration workers, was organized Mon- day night for the furtherance of the fight for jobs or relief for all unem- | ployed, under Roosevelt's C. W. A. scheme, The union unites the relief national convention against unem- part-time workers as well as those ion totally job! ” the call states. | and county welfare work. The new | organization, which is affiliated to the | Unemployed Council, was launched at | conference in Ferry Hall, 1343 Ferry | Ave. of fifty workers representing lergency measures, | workers also who are working on city | The fact that the Federal Government has been forced, despite its reluctance, to take over more and more of even such inadequate relief regardless of its affiliation or lack of affiliation will be concerned with the problems to be discussed at the National Convention. leges with those of all others in the convention. convention will be subject to your ratification upon the return and report of your delegates, and will not be otherwise binding.” The National Committee of the Unemployed Councils, which took lative in calling the convention, is making every effort to bring together not only delegates from organizations already affiliated with it, but also from all other organizations which are concerned with the development of an effective fighting program in behalf of the victims Southern C.W. ~~ Demand Pay in Many Cities the administration of C.W.A. funds. | is and require a national program. in itself that united action on a hat every unemployed organization, be accorded equal rights and privi- The decision of the A. Workers transportation to and from the job, and against being driven like dogs by the foremen. Negroes Can't Get Jobs Tallapoosa County has thus far hired only 50 people for relief work, Workers in New Orleans report that very few white people and almost no ave been taken on. The n fact, complain that they i @ run-around. They are told to report at 11 a.m. When they arrive they are sent home and told to come back at 3. At 3 they are ordered to return the following day. This sort of thing goes on and on. In Tarrant City, Ala., last Sunday, 50 workers, 45 of them white, met in pouring rain to hear Wirt Taylor, or- ganizer of the Unemployed Councils of Birmingham, outline a program of struggle. Debtors Get C.W.A. Wages One of the most bitter pills that the C.W.A. workers have to swallow is the realization that as soon as they earn a little cash, their debtors come pounding on the door, and demand | thet. back bills shall be paid. “We can’t pay our back bills and eat too,” the C.W.A. workers complain. Realizing that this winter will be worse than the last, the Southern | Workers are speeding up preparations | jto send delegates to the Unemployed ; Conference in Wa: .. OD January 13. A state-wide Alabama, conference has been called for Jan- uary 7, at 2 P. M., at Thirgood Me- |™Morial Church, 14th Street and 6th | Avenue North. Anti-Lynch Meet in Buffalo Tonight Conference Tomorrow Armour Strikers in New Trial Dee. 28th Meat Packers Trying to Railroad Leaders SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minn., Dec. 22. —The second trial of the arrested leaders of the Armour packing strike, Morris Karson, William Schneider- man and Norman Hurwitz, will be held in Judge Shepley’s court Thurs- - day 9 a. m., Dec. 28. The first trial ended in a jury dead- jock, but County Attorney Stassen, tool of the meat packers, is deter- mined to press the charges and rail- road the strike leaders to jail if pos- sible. A member of the Packinghouse Workers Industrial Union was ap- proached by Stassen, who offered to get him a job if he would get on the witness stand to testify against the strike leaders on trial, but this worker indignantly refused. The International Labor Defense calls upon all workers’ organizations to send resolutions of protest to County Attorney H. BE. Stassen, South St. Paul, Minnesota, demanding that the charges be dismissed. C. P. of New Jersey to Hold Newark Concert NEWARK, N. J—The Communist Party of New Jersey will hold its Sec~ ond Annual Taternational Concert and Ball tonight at the Y. M. H. A. audi- torium at High and West Kinney Sts. As a result of the many struggles in which the Communist Party has led the workers for better conditions the New Jersey District now finds itself ia great need of funds. The District Executive Committee has called on all workers’ organizations to make this ffair a success. Tickets are 30c in edvance. on Scottsboro Case BUFFALO, N. Y., Dec. 22.—The City Council has been forced to grant the use of the Broadway Auditorium to the Provisional Committee for the Western New York Conference against lynching for a Scottsboro anti- lynching protest meeting to- morrow night. ~ Attempts are now being made to Release of fonshak Jailed in Struggles for Relief NEW YORK, Dec, 22—Sam Gon- shak, secretary of the Downtown Un- employed Council, jailed eight months ago on charges arising out of relief struggles at the Home Relief Bureau When the Council sought to obtain rellef for sixteen starving families, ; posed of both groups of C. W. A. workers and of other relief workers. An executive committee of eleven was elected, which decided to call a mass meeting for next Wednesday, Dec. 27, at 8 p.m,, in Ferry Hall, At this meeting the program of the new union will be presented for discussion and adoption. Membership dues in the Relief Workers Protective Asso- | ciation will be 10 cents initiation fee, |5 cents a week for, all workers getting less than $20 a week, and 10 cents a week for those getting more. Gov'tRefuses Aid to Displaced Southern Croppers, Tenants Hundreds of Thous- ands Stranded by Crop Reduction Program MEMPHIS, Tenn., Dec, 22.—Admit- ting that the 1934-35 program of crop reduction will displace hundreds of thousands of tenant-farmers and sharecroppers in the South, Oscar Johnston, finance administrator of the A.A.A., at a meeting here Dec. 17, announced that the government would leave the rate of these displaced farmers to the “decency” of the land- lords, Or, in other words, the farm ad- ministration and the federal govern- ment do not give a damn what be- comes of these farmers and don’t in- tend to do anything to take care of them, For decades the decency of the landlords has found expression in debt-slavery, brazen theft of crops, cheating on accounts, and lynching. Last year and the year before, in par- ticular, this decency took the form of | wholesale evictions of croppers and tenants. It was the decency of the landlords of the “Black Belt” that murdered Ralph Gray, heroic leader of the croppers in their fight for bread. It was this same decency that killed three leading members of the Share Croppers Union at Reel- town last December. Because the landlords are so decent, five share- croppers sit today in Speigner P; hell-hole of Alebama, for havin dared resist the seizure of a neightor’ mule, ne Share Croppers Ui white a: is preparing giant rming people, struggles against the wholesaie evic: tions and the mass starvation that will grow out of the government's Tt woul program of crop reduction. seem that the share-cropn: nston, have y h in the “decency” of the jand- lords, fa FINNISH WORKERS AT ROXBURZ BAZAAR ROXBURY.—The bazear of the New Eng. land District of the Communist Party will close tonight with a concert and ball and entertainment by the Finnish Workers of- ganizations, Dancing from 8 p.m. tii mid- night, ee e was freed on parole Friday. He was sentenced to from six months to two years on Welfare Is- CP. OF JERSEY TO HOLD CONCERT NEWARK.—The Communist Party of New secure the use of a local radio station|!and. The International Labor De-| Jersey will hold its Second Annual Inter- Tie toe ot Struggle. for ‘Nees Ne Rights and the International tance Defense are closely co-operating with the Provisional Committee and are urging all workers and sympathizers |to make this meeting one of the biggest ever held in Buffalo. Federation of Labor, I. Green| 5 attorney; and representatives of the LSNF., the LL.D. the Communist Party and the Steel and Metal Work- ers Industrial Union. On Sunday an anti-lynching Con- ference will be held at the Masonic Temple at 2 o'clock, under the aus- ta “ee rites from meny ons, churches, clubs, etc. It is ex- pected that the conference will es- tablish a permanent Committee of Action against ; and against all forms of discrimination and for the freedom of the Scottsboro boys. Barbusse Statue .| POPs up everywhere. Here is an Aus- fense conducted a broad campaign to force his relief. national Concert and Ball tonight at the YMA. Auditorium, at Tigh and West Kinney Streets. FROM (Continued from Page 1) have discussed this question far into the night in the John Reed Club tooms in New York? In fact 30 John Reed Clubs, composed of American revolutionary artists and writers are discussing it this very minute in 30 cities all the way to San Francisco. And here is the question again, It tralian writer asking this question of an American writer as they sit in a Soviet train which is crossing the Urals, We talk of the Kharkov Con- ference; of the RAPP; of the recent discussions of the Organization Com~ Mittee of the Soviets Writers, And We discuss the work of Dreiser, Dos Passos, Gorky, Becher, Mike Gold and Marchwitza . . . for hours. We Defender Prize NEW YORK.—A bronze statue of Henri Barbusse, by Adolph Wolff, well-known sculptor, will be given to the International Labor Defense branch raising the most money’ for the Labor Defender Defense Fund within a given period, it was an- nounced today. The terms of the contest ‘The Daily Worker fights Fascism. “Daily” with your a Rush all funds to save the that the money must be raised in the week be; Saturday, Dec. 23, and must reach Labor Defender of- fice, Room 430, 80 East 11th St., not later than Sat 30, at be turday, Dec, 6 drink tea and talk. Lund, a Danish writer is in it. He has just returned from a visit to the Soviet writer, Sholokhov, in a village on the Don. Our views are surprisingly close in the main, although we come from our different sections of the world. We differ only in minor retails. We insist that Helios Gomez, the Spanish artist in our group, overstresses the quetsion of form. Eventually we tire of the argument and we go to bed. The arguments still roll on in my mind me ae train drives ahead steadily Iberia like the second Pyatileka, We eat, we sleep, we read. We e Rt Ly Page Theres CONVENTION “For the Privilege of Shooting a N Neora” PSTo | | Property with Dog, Red the full exteat of dhe law. All Persons are Warned against Trespa anythiag of Value. Violators will be Prosecated to Pon he a a Pea Poa aT, Rater, a, 232 or Gun, or é : 5 i , a i ; SALISBURY, Md.—Recentiy 2 wi office of the “Salisbury Times,’ 10 cents, pictured above. A “D: time, asked: “Why do you want that?” replied. to order 2 “No Tr Worker” “I want the priviiege of shooting a nigger,” If a Negro so much as puts his foot on ‘Trespassing” sign on the Easiern Shore, he can be snot on no penalty attached. That is the white ruling class law. hite plantation-ow reporter. Southern Press of Shooting A Boss Papers Also Tell! “Funny” Stories of Convict Camps By JIM MALLORY BIRMINGHAM, Ala—In the code werked out by the Southern Bour- bons, shooting down “niggers” is good clean sport, and working convicts to death is hilariously funny—and the Southern white press never fails to make the idbits of humor. The Atlanta Constitution of Dec. 18 deals, in what is supposed to be “lightly whimsical” manner, with the story of what happened to Hi y Duncan, Duncan, a Negro, was walk- ing with a companion from Atlanta to Covington. A car containing five white men gave the Negroes a lift. When they reached the side road which Duncan had to take, he asked te be let out. The car did not stop. Dunean's friend jumped out. The white men drove Duncan a mile fur- ther, stopped the car, and told the Negro to get out and run. As Dun- can ran down the road, the five whites levelled their pistol and opened fire. One bi s c him in the leg. He is recovering in the Grady hespitai. tdone in Aumorous dote, the Houston correspondent | Associated Press sent out a} story concerning the practice of con- 7 at Texas state prison syst of Singers, hands and feet in order so esenpe the gruciing ‘tortures of forced labor on.the farm. Within the jast few days, two convicis chopped off their fingers and @ third cut off his arm, in the hope that they would be transZerred to the Huntsvilie Pen- itentiary. One of these convicts said that in addition to back-brea! toil, he had twice been forced to 2 af punishment reserved for the hours | after work. The “offender” must come straight from the field, sta on an upturned barrei for an hour, most of such delightful 0 she retrieve farm of the) ¢ , of cutting | Makes Fun se ttack on Negro in the press, 1 tempo to the mo: labor, which v of these Bourbo still the lau in their throats, Ice Mena OBER’ ce ter to all Germer In the r Rhine, where the ice was igh, many hou n the b: drawn. into ‘ Chicago Poli Gar CHICAGO. Kill Three in “stand on the barrel”. This is a form ~ ~*~ rest for one hour, and then stand on the barrel again until midnight. Captain Ike Kelley, manager of the farm, explained casually to the A. P. reporter that last fall there was a “peguler epidemic’ of ‘“foot-chop- ping” among the convicts, { The A. P. writer, not being entirely devoid of a sense of humor, labels the practices of the convicts in cut- ting Off their hands and feet as “bizarre”. They story has been widely | printed in Southern newspapers. ‘The Southern white and Negro workers, reading these “anecdotes”, ERS: EY OIry, N. obbeil tas m Labor Defense. An appeal in the c smashing the 1: were convicted, on the constitutionality, is the I. L. D. ounds of 1 being taken by _ MOSCOW TO. SIBERIA have worn thin all that we know of coal and steel; of books and revolu- tion, And now the train has crossed the Urals. We are on our way to Omsk. Kolchak held sway here, Workers were butchered; others rose in a red wrath, Today wherever we look we see the harvest, Always the harvest. Kolkhozniks in the field. Threshing wheat. Delivering grain to the government stations, After Kol- chak . , . the harvest, T rise at 4 am, The train has stopped, there is a busile outdoors. I look out the window to see the snow-white station at Omsk, like a ghost on the dark plain. The same plain on which that ghost Kolchak roamed the nights. The train starts again and I fall asleep thinking of the two Bolshevik uprisings drowned in blood. And then finally of the in- vincible red wave thafi made Siberia ++ What we would see, Jn Siberia A comrade at my side {s going to Novosibirsk. We look out of the win- dow together and talk. Of 17 million unemployed in America. Of the Party there. He tells me about life in Si- beria today. He is a member of the control commission in his section. Visit our kolkhoz, he begs. Thousands of Australian sheep. Machinery, Bread. “White bread!” he adds. “Our workers want white bread.” He looks at my forelgn clothes, “Good,” he \ says. “Better than ours. No matter. We'li have that kind soon!” We arrive at Novosibirsk. My com- rade tells me that now we will begin to see “Siberian faces.” Kirghiz, Chuvash, Tartar, Russian Siberian— | ® healthy curtosity in the kind of an animal we are. ‘The train stops for a short while only, My comrade has gone. Mean- while the “Lux” express, Moscow to Manchurie, the last word in speed and comfort traveling across one- sixth of the globe, stops beside us for a moment and then rushes off |in a burst of speed into the night. | We follow behind for some hours and then go South, toward the Altai mountains. This is our last night on the way to Stalinsk, The country has changed a lot. We are climbing over beautiful moun- tein country, grain covered. Hore too, the harvest. Always, every mo- ment of our five days, the harvest. In the valleys on the hills, over the {mountain tops. Beyond stretch dis- tant mountain ranges, grey-blue in the distance. Geographically, we are closer to Asta now than to Moscow. At two o'clock in the afternoon we slip into a vailey. ‘We Arrive On our right the mountains. Along- side the silver expanse of the river Tom. On our ieft mountains again. | off | full cheeks, a healthy glow on them, | . And against them, a Bol etting of bia, been proletarian-willed into being four years! We have arrived to see it. We are in Staf nsk, egvoesRefused CWA Jobs; Jim Crowed When Registering LOUISVILLE, Ky., Dec, 22,—Al- though they had registered for Civil Works jobs over seven weeks ago, four Negro workers, all of them’ with families dependent on them for | support, have been refused work by the C.W.A. here. The Negroes, Claude Ellis, James Devine, George Lively, and Jim Johnson had been forced to register at the Jim Crow Y.M.C.A. at Tenth and Chestnut Sts. All were willing to do any work them, ‘ered Battle } JOBLESS PREP A! if By SEY ASHINGTON, Dec. 22 S verful American i st campus salesmen, the R.A in capital and labor in 3 sood and paying labor decent | ands see the N.R.A.| ha sbeen, a pro-| tion of starva-| | s of one per | od and other | had risen from eight | elt has approved | y of them for insig- We can take five| at the situat they | the 1,260,000 workers in four basic industries, mobile manufac- ROOseV odes provide wage (which | maximum) of en this, however, he basis of a maximum | rarely available) es. were approved | Labor Board, on} ator Robert F. Wagner, | reform Ww ny} the high-sal tion of Labor L, Lewis, hated head | f Amer- George L. avowed and pa of the smer r the ever- 4 ancis J. r Leo Wolman, nd steel code provides a num of 40 cents an hour for h area (60 per cent of and differentials scal~ 25 cents an hour for the Alabama, district. ert s than td 25 cents an hour. own that most steel workers lucky to get 30 hours’ work in view of the share-the- licy of the employers. That code is ad- of Directors alutin Prop- hich governs | 000 employes, pro- f 43 cents an hour 25 hours, that is, “unguarded nfamous merit ay e ‘ise their vance em- of individual to their mem- rship in any and good ones @ ALL STREET'S CAPITOL UR WALDMAN. ‘ix months and six days ago the ndustrialists and some of their so-called Brain Trust, hatched the plan that was to increase mass purchasing an idyllic embrace, making bad organization.” And the code does not include one labor representative, In July, 1933, there were 294,000 men employed in the bituminous coal industry, as compared with 523,000 in 1928. In only three of the years since 1920 has average working time gone above 200 days. Yet the code for this industry provides minimum wages |ranging from 30 cents for outside laborers in Tenneseee to 70 cents for especially skilled inside labor in Mon- It is, of course, impossible to arrive at the exact numbers who re- ceive the various scales, but we do know that the average working time in 1932 was 22.8 hours per week, It the average wage were 50 cents an hour, the average weekly earnings would be $11.40. I strongly suspect that it is not yet unheard of for Ten- nessee miners’ wives to go begging for rags to bind the tubercular bones of their children, tana. ma tee E cotton and silk textile codes e short and to the point—$12 a week in the South; $13 in the North; and a maximum of 40 hours a week, with the employers as the code au- thority. Tn recent code-writing the proposed wages have actualy been less than those still being earned today, while the hours have been increased. In fur manufacturing, for example, the owners propose to increase the hours from 35 to 40 per week, and to de- crease the wages ranging from $40 to $60 to $16. In the nearly-com- pleted construction code, the unions ve lost practically every point they raised. The code does not provide a single minimum wage for skilled we rs; it merely sets up 40 cents for Even this can be re- duced to 30 cents if less than 40 cents was paid July, 1929, And here comes compulsory arbitra- tion also, in the form of a provision that labor relations will be governed, under the code, by divisional boards set up for specific crafts, or by groups of crafts. The exact jurisdiction of the divisional boards is left to the de- cision of the code administration. Two “employe representatives” are pro- vided for the five-member boards— both of whom will be named by the code administrator from nominees submitted by employes, OUT OF TOWN AFFAIRS yor T= e Daily, Worker gi Dec. 28rd: LIFE SAVER Party 908 and 907 at 1951 W. 3rd floor rear. troup. Dec. 28rd: Dance end Enterteinment st affeir given by unit 20 at Workers Center, 7010 Wade Park. Adm. free, Quincy, Mase. Dec. 22nd: Entertainment and Quincy unit at 4 So. Quincy. Dance giver by Brooks Avenue, AMEN’S SICK AND ce; 714-716 Seneca Ave., 58,235 Members f ‘Lota! Assets on December 31, 1931: $3,488,895.96 Benefits paid since its existence: Death $4,888,216,93 Total: $17,050,202.66 Workers! Protect Your Families! In Case of Sickness, Death Benet) according to the age classes both Sick Benefit paid trom the third day respecti per week. for the firs: yw Sick Bonfits to for another forty a. Ror further information syply at thy Secretary. or to the Pinanelal Secretaries of the Branches. OF 1HE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ORUANIZED 188t—INCORPORATED 1999 + a0 cente per month—Death SeneMt $255 at the age of 16 te S46 cents per month—Death Benefit $550 to $230. Parents may insure their children & Death Reneflt according to age $20 to $200 ‘omen $Y per week for the first forty DEATH BENEFIT FUND Ridgewood Sta., Brooklyn, N. ¥ in 351 Branches a Accident or Death! —. et the time of initieation in ome ez “sue of death up to the age of 1% of filing the doctor's certificate, t forty weeks. half of the amount. weeks: $4.50 cach ¢ Main Office, William Spoke, Nettenal t ANNI Name . AGOrOR Rosse. seagate’ econ pre as AD Greetings must be in not later than December VERSARY DAILY WORKER | Greetings Organizations, Individuals Greet the Daily Worker on its 10th Anniversary Petersen pene teeeseeece seeee Amount o..ccen CHOY vais ie aera atatee a Re as ek Pa x PPS 2 POP e Regepew 6 By Ss 7 ee Ce ane mee